


Warming Up

by springgreen



Category: Princess Tutu
Genre: Character Study, Chromatic Source, Gen, Gift Fic, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-24
Updated: 2007-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-03 06:51:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/springgreen/pseuds/springgreen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spoilers through episode 9</p><p>As Rue, she is grounded by gravity and by the limitations of her own body.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Warming Up

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thuviaptarth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thuviaptarth/gifts).



> Happy very late Hanukkah/day-of-fic-giving-a-la-Yuletide, Thuvia Ptarth! Many thanks to e^y for the beta!

The studio is bathed in gold, the afternoon sunlight streaming through the top windows to illuminate the honey-pine floor. Rue's crow-black hair and blood-red leotard do not belong in the warm light, and in the mirror, she sees herself surrounded by the night sky, the cover of darkness more comforting than the sun's revealing rays.

She stretches, her leg extended over her head, and the pull of muscles in her back and legs and arms is familiar and welcome. As Kraehe, she can dance endlessly, hold perfect _arabesques_ and whip off dizzying _fouettés_, all without harm nor pain nor effort. As Rue, she is grounded by gravity and by the limitations of her own body.

The door to the studio creaks open, and Rue freezes at the intrusion. But it's only Ahiru.

"U-um. Can I watch?" Ahiru says in that funny voice of hers. Rue shrugs as if she doesn't care either way, but a small part of her wants Ahiru to stay.

Ahiru wedges herself into a corner, and Rue moves a little so she can see the girl's reflection in the mirror. Ahiru's eyes are fixed on her; Ahiru's mouth forms a small "o" as Rue goes through her warm-up routine.

She soon forgets about Ahiru as she practices, forgets the sweat trickling down her back and between her breasts, forgets the burn in her thighs and the soreness in her calves, forgets the annoyance of her hair in her face as she spots during her pirouettes. She is aware only of the quick patter of sixteenth notes that signals the _batterie_, the leaps of the melody as she _jetés_ across the floor, the way she can almost, almost feel herself floating through the air.

Too soon, the music halts and she stops, her world coming to a standstill as she maintains the final pose, her arms shaking oh-so-slightly from the exertion, her breathing rushed, her heart madly beating like a raven in her chest.

Ahiru's claps echo in the nearly empty room, and Rue whips her head around, startled back into the world of the studio.

"You dance so beautifully," Ahiru whispers. "I wish I could."

Almost against her will, Rue is touched. She slowly walks over and tilts Ahiru's baby-round face toward her own. The girl is clumsy and awkward in class, but her eyes shine with sincerity. For a second, Rue thinks that together they would make the perfect ballerina: her body and Ahiru's full, full heart.

"Don't dance like me," she says as she drops a cool kiss on Ahiru's forehead.


End file.
